Motahari: The House Arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi Violates Multiple Constitutional Principles

Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, has described the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two leaders of the protests against the 2009 presidential election results, as a "violation of multiple principles" of the Islamic Republic's constitution and stated that President Hassan Rouhani has "failed" in addressing the issue of their house arrest. According to this principlist representative, "public pressure" will ultimately lead the officials of the Islamic Republic to "submit to justice." On Tuesday, January 9, in an interview with the newspaper 'Mardom-e Emruz', he said that the government alone cannot effectively resolve "this case" while adding that a significant portion of the responsibility for this case lies "on the shoulders of the government" and that the government has "extensive" powers. He pointed out the president's responsibility regarding the implementation of the constitution, stating: "This house arrest violates multiple principles of the constitution. In fact, in this regard, Mr. Rouhani, as president, has been negligent." The Tehran representative also emphasized that the president, as the head of the Supreme National Security Council, should work together with the judiciary to resolve this issue and should not defer the matter to the leadership. Motahari mentioned that public pressure will cause officials to return from their "wrong" path and submit to "justice." Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the protests against the 2009 presidential election, have been under house arrest without trial since February 2011. On October 7, Motahari wrote a letter to Hassan Rouhani asking him, as president and head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, to take action to lift the house arrest of these three individuals, and if Rouhani "neglects" this issue, it will be pursued in the parliament as a "question" for the president. In this context, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Iran's Minister of Justice, stated on December 16 that the National Security Council is the decision-making body regarding the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, and that the government and judiciary cannot pursue this issue alone. In another part of this interview, Motahari referred to his question to the Minister of Justice regarding the attack on Ward 350 of Evin Prison, saying: "The question has come to the floor, but they do not put it on the agenda. Perhaps the fact that two brothers are heads of the two branches is also involved in this matter." According to reports from political prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, guards and prison officials attacked and beat the prisoners in this ward on Thursday, April 17. However, judiciary officials have denied these claims. Motahari has emphasized several times over the past two years that if civil protests had been recognized, many of the problems of 2009 would not have arisen. This Tehran representative added: "Our red line should only be chaos, destruction, and armed action, not criticism and protest. We have no overthrowing other than the Mojahedin-e Khalq and groups like Farqan and PJAK." He stated: "Our approach to critics and opponents should be like the approach of Ali (peace be upon him) to his critics... but we eliminate a critic from existence." Motahari has previously criticized the treatment of protesters against the 2009 presidential election results. The Tehran representative also said: "After entering the parliament in the eighth term, I felt that the principlists... sometimes have group biases and trample on rights, sometimes they have turned off their minds and listened to sources close to the leadership for what voice comes from there." He added: "I saw that this is not principlism, and principlism has turned into sycophancy and justification of the existing situation." Motahari emphasized: "The tenth parliament should represent all segments of society, not that a significant number of parliament members are affiliated with the IRGC or the Ministry of Intelligence." This parliament representative also mentioned that "the personnel of the Ministry of Intelligence in the previous government" and "other intelligence agencies" sometimes provide documents and evidence, including recordings of individuals, which are sometimes obtained through "wiretapping," to the representatives who are members of the Steadfast Front in the parliament during impeachment or votes of confidence for ministers. He stated that the representatives of the Steadfast Front in the parliament are in contact with "circles" outside the parliament and that "decisions are made there." In this context, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a representative from Yazd in the parliament, had accused "some forces of the Ministry of Intelligence" on Wednesday, November 12, of providing documents against Fakhruddin Ahmad Danesh Ashteyani, the fourth minister proposed by Hassan Rouhani, to the parliament members. In this context, the Minister of Justice stated: The government and judiciary cannot decide on the house arrest. The advisor to the Guardian Council's secretary stated: The system has been kind to Mousavi and Karroubi. A representative of Khamenei stated: The lifting of the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi must be approved by the leader. Who holds the key to lifting the house arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard? The changing battlefield of the "proxy forces"; the war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph; the responsibility of the opponents and the possibility of radicalization of Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iranian crisis. Two weeks after the complete blackout, the time for reconnecting the internet in Iran is still "uncertain." The shadow of war over Tehran; "Trump is looking for decisive military options against Iran." 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